Torah Thoughts and Reflections on the Jewish World

In Praise of Our Land

Parashat Shelach is our annual opportunity to somehow rectify the transgression of the spies. Only Calev and Yehoshua resisted the peer pressure and refused to speak disparagingly about the land of Israel. Until we successfully rebuild the Bet Hamikdash, Tisha Be’av, the evening of the spies’ sin, will remain a day of mourning.

On Shabbat, I suggested that we do our part in addressing the sin by speaking positively of the Land of Israel.

At the conclusion of Tractate Ketubot of the Talmud Bavli (112a-b), the Gemara records activites of various sages aimed at evoking a love and respect for Eretz Yisrael.

ר’ אבא מנשק כיפי דעכו. ר’ חנינא מתקן מתקליה. ר’ אמי ורבי אסי

קיימי משמשא לטולא ומטולא לשמשא

R. Abba kissed the stones of Acco. R. Hanina fixed damaged roads. R. Ami and R. Asi moved (during their learning) from the sun to the shade and from the shade to the sun.

Rashi explains that R. Haninah had such love of the Land that he did not want any possible rumors to spread about the state of disrepair of its roads. R. Ami and R. Asi wanted to avoid complaining about uncomfortable weather in Eretz Yisrael, so they always moved their hevruta learning to a more comfortable venue.

Another example cited by the Gemara R. Hiyah Bar Gamda rolling in the dust of Eretz Yisrael, similarly conveys an intense love of the Land. So powerful is this value in our tradition, that Rambam in Hilchot Melachim 5:10 actually “codifies” these behaviors as exemplifying how the average Jew should relate to the Jewish homeland.

R. Haninah used to weigh rocks and, when he would find them to be light, he would say, “I have not yet entered Eretz Yisrael.”Once he weighed them and found them heavy, he would say, “I have entered Eretz Yisrael!”

Tosafot goes on to support his interpretation by citing a Midrash Tanhuma to this effect.We should first note that what prompts this interpretation is difference in the edition of Tosafot’s text of the Talmud: our edition uses the expression מתקן מתקליה. Rashi, as do others, understands R. Haninah as engaging himself in repairs, as תקן, the root of מתקן indicates. Hence, Rashi’s explanation that R. Haninah fixed the roads. Tosafot, in contrast, has an edition that uses a ל at the end of the first word of that phrase, such that it reads מתקל מתקליה. For Tosafot, the word מתקל is the Aramaic equivalent of שוקל, he weighed. What did he weigh? Rocks and stones, to determine if he had yet entered Israel.

At first blush, this understanding has little in common with the others cited by the Gemara; the others either display a sage’s desire to praise Eretz Yisrael or to prevent its being disparaged; how does R. Haninah’s rock-weighing fit in? How is it, too, a way of praising Eretz Yisrael?

Rocks are heavy; they provide a solid foundation on which to build. It was only recently that some Israelis have begun to tile their floors with ceramic tiles; the vast majority still use “Balatot” – heavy square stone slabs.

The mishna in Berachot (fifth chapter) says אין עומדים להתפלל אלא מתוך כובד ראש – one should not begin his Amida until he has achieved כובד ראש, a serious attitude. The word כבד is associated with something important, serious.

Honoring parents is called כיבוד אב ואם. Your parents played a significant, “heavy” role in your life, and you should give weight to their contribution. When R. Haninah wished to determine whether he had arrived in Eretz Yisrael, he tested the rocks. Once he sensed that he was entering a land of great significance, he knew he had reached the Land of Israel. When one declares that he is entering a land in which everything has inherent signficance, is the greatest “praise” that Eretz Yisrael could ever hope to receive. It’s this appreciation of Eretz’s Yisrael’s foundational role in Jewish identity that prompted R. Haninah in the Midrash Tanchuma’s version of the story to kiss those stones.